Welcome to a Week of Eating Indigenous Food 2012. This site honors the Decolonizing Diet Project (DDP), an ambitious, year-long eating challenge directed by Martin Reinhardt, Anishinaabe Ojibway and Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University. The “American Indian Health and Diet Project” at KU invites all interested parties to support Martin's project by joining in the SECOND challenge: to eat only pre-contact foods November 2-9, 2012.

Traditional Foods

"Traditional" in the context of these projects means pre-contact foods. No beef, mutton, goat, chicken, pork, milk, butter, cream, wheat flour (no fry bread), rye, barley, okra, black-eyed peas, or any other "Old World" food that many of us have lovingly incorporated into our diets and tribal cultures. No processed foods (Doritoes, Lays Chips, etc), even if the base is corn or potatoes. No chocolate unless it is unsweetened cacao or sweetened with honey from the Melipona bee, fruit, stevia, camas or agave. Be adventurous and try unfamiliar foods! There are many foods to choose from. My American Indian Health and Diet Project site lists and defines many of them.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Tosh graduated from Baldwin High this weekend. We had the celebration in the morning before the ceremony so he could run around and visit friends afterwards. We prepared a variety of dishes, including grape and sweet potato salsa, cookie pizzas, venison and meatless burritos, tomato and corn salsa, lemon-raspberry ade, mimosas (champagne, orange juice and Triple Sec) for stressed parents, with three types of chips: pita, whole grain, and veggie. I forgot to take pics of everything.

The food sounds terrific. Someone (ahem, Marty) might consider organizing a conference on traditional eating, or perhaps an indigenous "Chopped" or "Top Chef"-type competition. Without the crazy short time limits on cooking, of course.

There have been many discussions about how eating our traditional foods and abandoning processed, greasy, salty and fatty foods can bring about dramatic health changes. But we also must exercise. Historcally, tribespeople did not simply sit around eating unprocessed foods. They gathered, planted, harvested, rode horses (after breaking them), dragged belongings and heavy game they killed, set up tipis and other homes, chased after children, butchered game, moved rocks, ran, walked, and swam. Some netted fish and hauled in their heavy catches. Others canoed or kayaked rough waters. Hunting sometimes took hours or even days. Gatherers often had to forage for miles to find edible plants. Fighting was stressful and energy depleting.

Day-to-day living was consistently active and tribesmen and women burned thousands of calories. Today it is easy to sit and watch t.v., surf the web, or feel too tired to even walk around the block.

Try to do something.
For the past eight weeks I've been on a "Walk Kansas" team. I've been a runner since age 11 and have never kept a diary of my exercise. Nor do I wear a watch, but am fairly aware of how long I stay out. I also have been a competative musher, skijorer, tennis player. Archery kept me occupied throughout my early life, as did exploring creeks around my family home. Lately I've kept track and see that I've put in an average of 47 miles of running and walking per week, plus swimming, gardening and weights.

Speaking (or, writing) of fitness: Congratulations to son Tosh for being named Athlete of the Week of the Jim Thorpe Native American Games. https://www.facebook.com/jtgames12 The Games will be held June 10-17 in Oklahoma City.

If your group is interested in offering moral support for this 2012 Challenge (you do not have to participate, just like the idea), let me know and I will add your name to the list.

November is Native American Heritage Month. During the first week, participants in this challenge will eat foods indigenous to this hemisphere. Eaters can focus on one tribe; or, because foods may be expensive, out of season, contaminated or not available, participants can choose to eat only one or two indigenous meals per day or, widen the meal possibilities by choosing any foods indigenous to the western hemisphere.

This site is maintained by Devon Mihesuah, the Cora Lee Beers Price Professor and Director of the American Indian Health and Diet Project (AIHD) at the University of Kansas. You will find many links here that connect to the AIHD site for recipes, lists of indigenous foods, resources for food research and gardening tips. Recipes are welcome. Send recipes and diet outlines to my e-mail: mihesuah@ku.edu

Decolonizing Diet Project. Started March 25, 2012 and is Still Going Strong!

Click picture for the Decolonizing Diet Project

American Indian Health and Diet Project

Elk Stew

Recipes, including this one for elk stew (click picture)

Banaha, Pintos and Peppers

Vegetables, fruits and meats indigenous to this hemisphere (click picture)